Continuous-casting mold assembly



Sept. 8, 1970 H. HUBER CONTINUOUS-CASTING MOLD ASSEMBLY Filed NOV. 14, 1967 FIGB FIGZ

/IIIIIrI/llllll INVENTOR. HORST Huss United States Patent 3,527,287 CONTINUOUS-CASTIN G MOLD ASSEMBLY Horst Huber, Westfield, NJ., assgnor to Concast, Inc., New York, N .Y.

Filed Nov. 14, 1967, Ser. No. 683,394 Int. Cl. B22d 11/00, 27/04 U.S. Cl. 164--283 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An open-ended casing on a support has a pair of conduits for uid coolant around it opening into it. A tubular open-ended mold liner in the casing has a tubular baille member around it with a space between. The ends of the mold liner open through caps on the ends of the casing and the baille member is supported in the casing, with its ends spaced from the caps, by a flange around its outer wall extending outward and resting on a flange that projects inward from around the casing wall between the conduits. The flanges also separate the interior of the casing into two chambers so that iluid entering one chamber from one of the conduits circulates through the space between the baille member and mold liner into the other chamber, and then out the other conduit. This structure enables the mold liner and baille member to be readily replaced in the casing.

The present invention relates to molds for the continuous casting of metal. In particular, it is a continuous-casting mold assembly that incorporates means for circulating a fluid coolant through it and that has novel structure enabling the mold liner and other elements of the assembly to be replaced simply and quickly.

In the usual methods for the continuous casting of metals, molten metal is poured into an open-ended mold that chills and solidiiles the periphery of metal to deiine a strand which is withdrawn continuously from the bottom of the mold as molten metal is poured in the top. If the mold gets too hot it will not chill the metal suillciently to form a strand, therefore, in order to be able to work the method on a continuous basis, the interior of the mold must be continuously cooled to keep it below a certain maximum temperature. Moreover, the entire circumferential surface of the interior of the mold must be uniformly below such minimum temperature. If a portion of the mold surface is not suiliciently cooled, the periphery of the metal may not solidify at all at that point so that metal from the still-molten core of the strand will spill out as the strand is drawn from the mold, or the insufficiently cooled portion may only solidify a relatively thin skin which the heat of the molten core might remelt and let molten metal spill out.

It is customary to cool the mold by circulating a iluid coolant, usually water, around the outside of the mold liner, which defines the passage through which the metal passes to be formed into a strand. In the usual structure, a water jacket is attached around the mold liner. The jacket is connected to an outside supply of water, or other iluid coolant, by suitable inlet and outlet conduits so that iluid can be ilowed continuously through it. Inside the jacket various conduits and bailles are provided to circulate the fluid around the mold liner as effectively as possible for maintaining the temperature of all portions of the circumference of the liner uniformly below a certain maximum.

In known constructions the water jacket and mold liner are incorporated in a unit that must be replaced as a whole in the continuous-casting machine, in order to replace a worn mold liner or to substitute one of a different size or configuration. This usually involves dis- "ice connecting the fluid supply hoses, in addition to having to loosen the connections by which the unit is mounted on the machine. In short, it is a bothersome procedure to have to remove the entire jacket and mold unit.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a continuous-casting mold assembly having a cooling system incorporated therein, in which the mold liner, and the baille member which forms an important part of the assembly, are adapted to be removed easily from the rest of the assembly without having to detach the latter from the casting machine.

Another object is to provide an assembly as aforesaid, in which a mold liner and/or baille member of a different size or conguration can be readily substituted.

A further object is to provide such an assembly, in which a uniform space is provided between the sides of the mold liner and an encircling baille member for cooling iluid to ilow around all sides of the mold liner at an equal rate so as to ensure uniform cooling of the walls of the mold liner, and in which said uniform space is established automatically when the mold liner is removed and replaced.

These objects are accomplished by the mold assembly of the present invention wherein an open-ended mold liner is supported in a casing by caps, which are over the ends of the casing with the ends of the mold liner opening through the caps. The casing, which is mounted on a support attached to the casting machine, has conduits around it opening into the interior of the casing, and a coolant, such as Water, from an outside supply, ilows into one of the conduits through an inlet passage in the support and ilows out of the other conduit through an outlet passage in the support. A tubular baille member around the mold liner is larger in diameter than the liner so as to provide a space between and the width of this space is made equal around the circumference of the liner by spacing fins at intervals around the inside' of the baille member. The baffle member is shorter than the interior of the casing between the caps and is supported in position with its ends spaced from the caps by a flange projecting outward from around its outer wall and resting on a flange projecting inward from the portion of the interior wall of the casing between the conduits. These ilanges also serve to separate the interior of f the casing into two chambers so that fluid ilowing into one of the chambers from outside circulates through the space between the baille member and the mold liner, into the other chamber, and then out through the other conduit.

The lmold liner is readily extracted yfrom the casing by removing one or both caps and lifting it out; the baille member can also be lifted out when the mold liner has been removed. Thus the mold liner and baille memberI are easily removed for replacement without having to remove the casing from the support or disconnect the fluid supply. Moreover, since the baille member is not attached, but floats in the Casin-g, and is located in position around the mold liner by the spacer ilns on the baille member, the critical space between the mold liner and ybaille member is automatically adjusted to uniformity around the mold liner by the insertion of the mold liner into the interior of the battle member in the casing when the mold liner is replaced.

Further objects, advantages and features of this invention will oe Iapparent in the following description of illustrative embodiments depicted in the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a vertical section through a continuous casting mold assembly `embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is a section along the line 2-2 of FIG. l; and

FIG. 3 is a vertical section through a central portion of a mold assembly generally similar to the assembly shown in FIG. 1, but -l1aving a curved mold liner and baille member.

Referring to the drawings, the mold assembly of this invention includes an open-end casing attached on a support 11 and having a mold liner 12 carried therein to be axially aligned between the outlet of a tundish, indicated by arrow 13 above it, and a supporting passageway for a strand of metal issuing from the mold, indicated by arrow 14 lbelow. The support 11 is suitably mounted on the frame or other portion of a continuouscasting machine, but lmeans for mounting the support is not shown since it forms no part of the present invention and consists of conventional structure.

A pair of conduits 15 and 16 attached to the casing extend respectively around upper and lower portions of the casing and have a plurality of openings 17 and 18 into the interior of the casing, and ports 19 and 20 opening outside the casing in iluid ilow communication with passages 21 yand 22 that are in the support 11. From the ports 19 and 20 the passages 21 and 22 extend through the support 11 to the other side where they are connected respectively to hoses 23 and 24 by means of conventional connector iittings indicated at 25 and 26. The conduit 16 is an inlet and the conduit 15 is an outlet and, as indicated by arrows in the drawing, a iluid coolant, such as water, from a supply not shown, flows from the hose 24, through passage 22 and conduit 16 into the interior of the casing. After it is circulated in the casing for cooling the mold liner 12 (by structure, subsequently described), the iluid passes out of the casing, through conduits 15 and passage 21 into the hose 23, which carries it oil, either to 'be dumped or to be cooled and recirculated.

The mold liner 12, which is conventionally a copper tube, is supported in the casing 10 by caps 28 and 29 attached over the respective open ends of the casing by bolts 30. The ends of the mold liner 12 open through the caps 28 and 29 with one end of the mold liner secured in an appropriate opening in one of the caps and its other end lfitting through an opening in the other cap. As shown in the drawing, the upper end of the mold liner 12 is attached in an opening 31 in the top cap 28. Its lower end is iltted through an opening 32 in the lower cap 29 so as to be removable therefrom and a sealing ring 33 is provided in the wall of opening 32 to make a leaktight connection with the periphery of the mold liner. The mold liner 12 is therefore readily removed from the casing 10 by loosening the bolts 30 that hold the cap 28, and lifting the cap up to withdraw the mold liner, which is attached to the cap, up out of the casing. Thus the mold liner is easily replaced. If it is desired to substitute a mold liner of a different size or conilguration, both caps 28 and 29 are removed and replaced by diilerent caps that have openings corresponding to the diilerent size or conguration.

Within the casing 10 iluid is circulated .along the mold liner 12 by a tubular baille 35 around the liner, the inside diameter of the baille being larger than the outside diameter of the mold liner to provide a space 36 between. Short spacing fins 37 placed at intervals around the inside surface of the baille 35 and bearing against the mold liner center the lbaille around the liner to make the space 36 Ilthe same width all the way around.

The baille 35 is shorter than the length of the interior of the casing 10 and is supported therein by a ilange 38 projecting outward from around the outside of t-he baille and extending over, and resting on, a ilange 39 that projects inward from around the inside wall of the casing between the conduits 15 and 16. As shown, the outer edge of the ilange 38 on the baille has a down-turned edge 40 that rests on a ilat seal ring 41 seated in an appropriate groove in the upper face of the ilange 39. The baille 35 is held in position in the casing by iins 46 attached on the outer wall of the baille at intervals spaced around it. At their upper ends, the ilns `46 project above CII the top of the baille and bear against the underside of the cap 28 so as to press the edge 40 of the ilange 38 on the baille ilrmly down against the seal ring 41 on the casing ilange 39 to form a tight seal. The il'an-ges 38 and 39 thus cooperate to separate the interior of the casing into two chambers, 42 and 43, around the baille in the upper and lower portions, respectively, of the casing. In addition, the ilanges 38 and 39 are located so that they support the baille up in the casing to provide a space at each end of the baille between the end of the baille and the inside surface of the adjacent cap, 28 or 29. These spaces are designated `44 and 45 in FIG. 1.

The above-described structure and manner of mounting the baille 35 in the casing enables the baille to be easily removed for repair or replacement, when the mold liner is removed from the casing 10. Also, as best seen in FIG. 1, the ilange 39 projects into the casing an amount which leaves space-indicated at 47-between the inner edge of the ilange and the baille 35, so as to provide room for substituting a larger size baille, or one of different configuration.

When the mold liner 12 is removed and replaced by another one having a different size or configuration, the baille 35 will usually be replacedl at the same time by a different baille that is dimensioned to be compatible with the size or conilguration of the substituted mold liner. This is illustrated in FIG. 3 Which is a section showing the interior of the casing 10 of FIG. 1 with a curved mold liner 12a and correspondingly curved baille 35a substituted for the straigh mold liner 12 and baille 35 shown in FIG. 1. Also as seen in FIG. 3, the caps 28 and 29 are replaced by caps 28a and 29a in which the openings through them are appropriately curved to accommodate the curved mold liner 12a. If the size and configuration of the substitute baille varies considerably from that of the straight shown in FIG. 1, the dimensions of the ilange 38 on the baille may also have to be varied in order for the down-turned edge 40 of the ilange 38 to rest squarely on the seal ring 41 on the casing ilange 39. However, the width of the seal ring 41, and the manner in which ilanges 38 and 39 coperate, permit quite a bit of latitude so that the dimensions of the ilange 38 do not have to be designed with any great degree of precision in order to be able to provide a substitute baille that will function in the intended manner. As seen in FIG. 3, the portion of the ilange 38a at the right of the baille 35a is slightly wider than at the left to compensate for the curvature of the baille; the portion of space 47a is also corresponding wider at the right. The only other elements affectedl by the different configuration of the substitute baille are the iins 46a which are altered slightly, as indicated in the drawing, to compensate for the curvature of the baille 35a. The other elements of the mold asembly, namely the casing 10, conduits 21 and 22, ilange 39 and seal ring 41, are unaffected and are thus adapted for use with a wide variety of mold liners andl baflles of different sizes and conilgurations.

In operation, the above-described arrangement of the baille 35 and flanges 38 and 39 forces iluid flowing into the lower chamber 43 from the conduit 16 to circulate down around the lower end of the baille, up through the space 36 beside the mold liner and then around the upper end' of the baille into the upper chamber 42, from which it ilows into the upper conduit 15 and then out through outlet passage 21 in the support. As the iluid thus circulates up through the space 36, it picks up heat from the mold liner 12 to keep the mold cool enough for continuous casting.

It is extremely important that the entire inner surface of the mold liner be cooled below the .maximum temperature at which the periphery of molten metal ilowing through the mold liner solidiiies. If some spot on the mold is too hot, the casting is apt to be imperfect. Therefore, to provide eilective cooling it is necessary that the cooling iluid ilOw up through the space 36 at a substantially uniform rate (preferably provided by a uniform volume at a uniform pressure) around the whole periphery of the mold liner. For this purpose the space 36 is made equal on all sides of the mold liner by the spacer iins 37 and provision is made for introducing the iluid into the chamber 43 and out of the chamber 42 at a substantially equal rate around conduits and 16.

As best seen in FIG. l, there is only one entry port into the conduit 16 and only one outlet port 19 from the conduit 15. Therefore, to equalize the rate at which iluid enters and exits from the conduits 15 and 16 at all points around the inside of the casing, the several openings 17 and 18 along the respective conduits are made progressively larger the further away they are from the outlet port 19 and inlet port 20.

It is to be understod that the embodiments of the invention shown in the drawings and described in detail are illustrative only and that some modifications and variations may be made in the structure and mode of operation thereof without departingr from the scope of the invention defined by the following claims` What is claimed is:

1. A continuous casting mold assembly comprising: an open-ended casing; a pair of conduits opening into the interior of the casing, means for conducting fluid into one of the conduits and out of the other; including a single entry port opening into the one and a single exit port opening into the other, said openings into the casing along the conduits being of a progressively larger size all along the conduits from points nearest the openings of said ports to the points farthest away for substantially equalizing the ilow rate of iluid through the several openings in the respective conduits; a pair of caps attached respectively over the ends of the casing; a tubular open-ended mold liner in the casing with its ends opening through said caps; an open-ended baille member around the mold liner with a space between; said baille member being shorter than the interior of the casing between said caps; spacing means for equalizing the width of the space between the mold liner and the interior of the baille member all the way around them; a rst ilange projecting inward from around the interior wall of the casing between said conduits; and a second flange around the exterior of the baille member projecting outward over said iirst llange and resting thereon to support the `baille member with its ends spaced from the caps and to separate the casing into two members around the baille member, whereby iluid ilowing into one of said chambers from one of said conduits is circulated around the end of the baille member, through the space between the baiile member and mold liner, into the other of said chambers and then out through the other of said conduits; said conduits extending entirely around the casing and having openings into the interior of the casing at spaced intervals all along them for, respectively, admitting iluid into and conducting iluid out of the interior of the casing at a substantially uniform rate on all sides thereof, thereby to cause iluid to circulate through the space between the mold liner and baille member at a substantially equal rate on all sides of the mold liner.

2. A continuous casting mold assembly comprising: an open-ended casing; a pair of conduits openings into the interior of the casing; means for conducting fluid into one of the conduits and out of the other; a pair of caps attached respectively over the ends of the casing; a tubular open-ended mold liner in the casing with its ends opening through said caps; an openended baille member around the mold liner with a space between; said baille member being shorter than the interior of the casing between said caps; a first ilange projecting inward from around the interior wall of the casing between said conduits; and a second ilange around the exterior of the lbaiile member projecting outward over said first ilange and resting thereon to suppport the baille member with its ends spaced from the caps and to separate the casing into two chambers around the baille member; a seal ring along the line at which said second flange rests on said first ilange, and a plurality of projections spaced apart around an end of the baille member and extending upward from said end to engage the inside face of the cap over the adjacent end of the casing for pressing said second ilange against said seal ring thereby to make a tight t between the anges, whereby iluid ilowing into one of said chambers from one of said conduits is circulated around the end of the baiile member, through the space between the baille mem-ber and mold liner, into the other of said chambers and then out through the other of said conduits.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,862,265 12/1958 Vaughn et al. 164283 3,170,204 2/1965 Tarmann 164-283 X 3,313,006 4/1967 Barbe et al. 164-283 3,414,047 12/ 1968 Saunders 164--283 FOREIGN PATENTS 515,102 1l/1952 Belgium.

I. SPENCER OVERHOLSER, Primary Examiner R. S. ANNEAR, Assistant Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 164-348 

